


Live Again Forever

by whitedandelions



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: F/F, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-12 12:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12958881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitedandelions/pseuds/whitedandelions
Summary: Agnieszka disappears with the Wood.  Kasia finds her again, ten years later.  When the mantises are back, but full of rot, and the Wood is once again a threat.





	Live Again Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [down](https://archiveofourown.org/users/down/gifts).



Kasia was pretty sure they were all dead.

She didn’t know where her men were. She didn’t have time to turn around because she was still in the thick of things. She raised her sword just in time to block a swipe from the huge mantis in front of her.

She hadn’t seen one of them in years. The Wood was supposed to be tame now; at least that’s what Agnieszka always said in her letters. That the mantises were coming out in droves was unprecedented. It was inconceivable.

And to come out looking like this? The mantis looked like it was rotting, and the smell was horrendous. It looked nothing like her memories.

It opened its mouth, the pincers gleaming from the light of the flames all around them, and Kasia used the brief opportunity to swing her sword upward, slicing the mantis’ head completely off.

She didn’t have time to celebrate however, because another mantis was already coming up.

She raised her sword, but the mantis never got close enough to swing at her. It went up in white flames, a wailing cry erupting from it as it burned into ashes.

She whirled, looking for the source of the fire. None of the wizards were there with them; they had been all called away by the threat of Polyna. They weren’t supposed to be here.

A hooded figure emerged from the shadows with a hand raised. They were chanting loudly, the sound carrying despite the sounds of battle around them.

“Polzhyt mollin, polzhyt talo,” the figure continued to repeat, and the flames that were burning out roared to life. They moved as if they were alive, burning one mantis and then moving onto the next. They had no defense, and it was only a minute later that they had all been burned to ashes.

The figure stopped chanting as soon as the last mantis died, lowering their hand and walking toward Kasia.

“Thank you,” she called, and dropped her sword into the soft earth, hilt up. She might have been made of wood, but she was tired after fighting for her life for hours.  She leaned heavily on her sword with both hands, and watched as the figure approached.

“You look the same as you did ten years ago,” the figure said. They raised their hands, and slowly lowered the hood.

Agnieszka stared back at her. She was smiling.

Kasia didn’t move for a long second. She hadn’t seen Agnieszka in so long. They still exchanged letters, even though Kasia had no idea how her letters made their way to Agnieszka. But Agnieszka had stopped talking about what was happening in her life, and only asked questions about Kasia.

She was shaking. Agnieszka’s smile slowly dropped, and they stood in silence for another second and then Kasia was running forward.

She wrapped her arms around Agnieszka, and found her friend shaking just as hard as she was.

“I thought you would be mad at me,” said Agnieszka when they broke apart.

“Never,” she promised, and pulled Agnieszka into another hug.

* * *

Her men were wary of Agnieszka. She was a witch, but they didn’t know her face. Those with magic were registered with the court. And most stayed in Kralia, enjoying the comforts of being a high-ranking wizard or witch within the capital.

Those that would have known her weren’t here. Kasia knew Sarkan and Solya both would be jealous if they knew she had found Agnieszka. She had been missing for ten years, after all.

“Am I allowed to ask where you’ve been?” she asked.

Agnieszka hummed, and her eyes darted over to where Kasia’s men were sitting.

“I can tell them to leave,” she offered, and Agnieszka shook her head.

Agnieszka started to sing instead, the notes and melody carrying over the crackling of the fire they were huddled against. When she closed her mouth, the air felt different.

“What’d you do?” she asked.

“Just a little spell I’ve learned. They can’t hear us,” said Agnieszka, smiling. Then her smile dropped and she looked serious. “Jaga found me.”

“Jaga? The Dragon thought she was dead.”

Agnieszka shook her head. “She’s not.”

“Did…did she kidnap you? Is that why you disappeared?”

Agnieszka stared at her, and then laughed, incredulous. “No, Jaga found me to teach me.”

“Because your magic is like hers.”

Agnieszka nodded. She hummed a tune, and the food Kasia was nibbling on became a luxurious meal. Gone was the rat meat and what rested before her was a meal from Midwinter. It had roast pork, wheat porridge, even fresh peas and a taigla cake.

“Did you learn that from her?” she asked, her eyes wide. Her mouth watered at the sight of it.

“From Sarkan,” she said. “Jaga taught me other things.”

“The fire,” she said, and Agnieszka nodded.

“They come easier to me,” said Agnieszka. “I learned a lot these ten years. But...” Agnieszka trailed off, “I’ve missed all of you.”

“Me too,” Kasia said immediately. She wasn’t lying. There were nights she had laid awake wondering where her best friend had gone. It had taken a lot of willpower not to ask within her letters. She had learned to keep quiet, when each question was dodged by Agnieszka. “Sarkan and Solya will be glad to see you.”

Agnieszka’s face fell. “I won’t see them.”

“Why?” demanded Kasia. She gripped tighter on her utensil, her knuckles white even as she tried to keep her tone steady. “You were missing for ten years, Nieshka!”

Agnieszka’s eyes shone at Kasia’s use of their childhood nickname. “No one’s called me that in years,” said Agnieszka.

Kasia bit her lip to stop herself from yelling. This wasn’t the right approach. “Did something happen between you and the wizards?”

The firelight was dim, but Kasia’s eyes were sharp enough to catch the telling of a flush on Agnieszka’s pale cheeks. “Nothing that needs to be told,” she said. “But enough of that. There is someone stirring up trouble.”

She knew Agnieszka was changing the topic. But Kasia didn’t want to press, not when it made Agnieszka so uncomfortable. And the sight of the rotting mantises was still burned into her eyes and she wanted to know how to get rid of them. “How do we find them?”

“Send the soldiers away,” said Agnieszka. “Send them back to Kralia tomorrow.”

“I can’t just do that,” she said, but Agnieszka’s mouth looked mulish. Kasia knew that look. She had dreamed of it for ten years. Agnieszka couldn’t be reasoned with, not when she was sure of her decision. She breathed slowly out of her nostrils, trying to keep calm. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll send them back tomorrow.”

“I’ll explain to the King,” said Agnieszka. “But we need to be alone to approach the one doing this.”

“Why me?” asked Kasia.

“Because you look like her,” said Agnieszka, “and because I need you.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything,” said Kasia, eventually, and Agnieszka smiled.

“It tells you everything,” said Agnieszka. She stood. “Get some rest, Kasia. I’ll see you when the soldiers are gone.” She put back on her hood. Kasia stood as well, about to ask Agnieszka to stay, but Agnieszka was melting into the shadows. Then she was gone.

The sounds of the outside came rushing in. Her men’s boisterous laughter floated through the air and Kasia couldn’t help the relief that flooded through her at the sound. She had led her men for so long that it only brought comfort.

Her soldiers would listen to her command without calling her a traitor. She was sure of it. They had been through so many battles together that they would trust her judgment.

Even when she wasn’t so sure of it herself.

* * *

“Come with me,” said Agnieszka. Her hand was outstretched, with the palm up and the fingers curled.

The soldiers were long gone. They had marched away an hour ago. Kasia had sat down and waited after she couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore.

She made a face at Agnieszka. “What took you so long?” she asked.

“Preparations,” said Agnieszka. She sounded pleased. “They went well.” She hummed and then a sword was in her hand.

Alosha’s sword.

From ten years ago.

Her hands were shaking as she reached out for it. It should’ve been broken.

“How?” she asked, and Agnieszka smiled.

“You’ll need it for where we’re going.”

She sheathed the sword and hung it on her side. This time, she didn’t hesitate to take Agnieszka’s hand.

* * *

They traveled light for the next few days. Each day, Agnieszka regaled her with more and more outlandish tales of Jaga’s teaching.

Jaga was an eccentric old lady. She was crochety and forgetful, but her magic still held the sharp crack of someone much younger. It had taken Agnieszka a year to finally understand her way of teaching.

As they traveled, Kasia finally started to glimpse the old Agnieszka. The new Agnieszka was more stoic, calmer than the old Agnieszka she knew. Agnieszka was ten years older, after all, and had spent those ten years in the presence of a renowned mage. A mage who was rumored to be dead. Kasia wasn’t surprised to learn that it had only been the two of them in Jaga’s little cottage.

Nature still reached out to Agnieszka. Her robe was still as stained as ever, and it was only when Agnieszka cast a little spell that she looked presentable. The finery was still promptly ruined an hour after traveling, and Agnieszka’s smile was mischievous when she caught Kasia looking. Apparently, both Sarkan and Jaga hadn’t been fond of her dishevelment.

“What’s wrong with a little mess?” complained Agnieszka, and Kasia couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of her.

They didn’t always stay on the road. Kasia was the captain of the King’s guard, a prestigious position that had paid her more than enough to indulge in some luxuries. Kasia had never been in the position for the money; with Agnieszka missing, Kasia had no need of money. She had no one to spend it on. But now that Agnieszka was with her again, when it was too dark to travel, Kasia convinced her childhood friend to see the sights with her.

They had both grown up in a small village away from everyone. Kasia loved Dvernik, but it was a small village. It wasn’t a city like the ones near the capital. And when Agnieszka had been in Kralia, it hadn’t been exactly a fun time. She had been worried sick about trying to keep Kasia alive.

So this was the least Kasia could do.

It had nothing to do with the way Agnieszka’s eyes shone as Kasia took her to places with luxurious dishes and to places with beautiful sights. It had nothing to do with how the way Agnieszka made her feel like she was coming home.

Kasia had spent so much of those ten years trying to raise the King that she had no time to spend on herself. She didn’t have time to make friends or learn how to live again, not when her heart had disappeared along with Agnieszka. Solya had tried, he had attempted to bring her out of her shell, but he had given up when it became apparent that Kasia would rather learn how to swordfight than to go out for a nice night of fun.

It hadn’t been Kasia’s intention. But soon her life had become about protecting the King.

She couldn’t regret it. Not when it led her to where she was now. A renowned captain of the King’s guard who had never lost a battle. She had protected her King and she would continue to do so for the rest of her life.

She felt guilty for being distracted, but the distractions didn’t last long. They were heading in the direction of Dvernik. And the cities with countless distractions were becoming more and more scarce. Soon, it was just the two of them and the promise of warm beds no longer lured them away from the outside.

And strangely enough, Kasia enjoyed it more. It reminded her of their childhood, when they would sneak off to the wilderness to explore and get to know each other. Agnieszka had never cared that Kasia might go missing at any moment, and instead had treasured her.

Agnieszka had just cast _lirintalem_ again. Their meal was extravagant and tasted like home, and Kasia couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face as she ate. “Do you remember when we were young?” she asked, and Agnieszka’s eyes brightened.

She looked like she was going to answer, but a ringing scream echoed through the air. Kasia and Agnieszka both stood, ignoring the way their food went tumbling to the ground. This wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Because Kasia knew the smell in the air. It was decaying, disgusting, and sour. It was rot.

The mantises were here.

“We’re closer to the Wood,” said Kasia, in a whisper.  "But they haven’t attacked in a week.” 

Agnieszka bit her lip. “They have,” she said. “I’ve killed them. But they came earlier today.”

“You what?” asked Kasia. Her grip went slack on the hilt of her sword in her shock. Agnieszka looked guilty.

“It was safer,” said Agnieszka.

Kasia stared at her and tried her best to breathe calmly. She was reminded sorely of ten years ago, when Agnieszka had done nothing but think of Kasia's safety. This was no different. This was Agnieszka taking on the burden just to protect her.

Another scream ran out.

“We’re going to talk about this,” she warned, and unsheathed her sword.

Agnieszka let out a shaky breath and then raised her hands. A ball of fiery light rose into the air and lit up the surroundings around them. The shadows from the trees danced as the two of them made their way deeper into the Wood, following the screams.

The mantises saw them first. Kasia shoved Agnieszka behind her, bringing up Alosha’s sword and having their blades ring harmlessly off the metal. The sword was just as light as she remembered, and with her decade of swordfighting, Kasia easily brought her sword up in a deft strike, cutting the mantis’ head off.

The smell of decay got stronger and Kasia nearly gagged on it as the head fell at her feet.

“How many are there?” asked Kasia. Her eyes darted from left to right, chasing shadows and trying to catch a glimpse of anything. She wondered briefly where the scream had come from because the mantises were here and there was no one left in the clearing. Were they too late? Had the mantises already eaten them?

“Five,” said Agnieszka. “There are always five.”

She sounded calm. Like she had the first night she had come to Kasia. The traces of the Agnieszka she had known that were emerging had now disappeared.

“Be careful,” she warned, and there was a quirk to Agnieszka’s smile.

“I’m not the little girl you once knew,” said Agnieszka, and she raised her hands. This time when she sang, it was powerful. Clear, beautiful notes rang out of her voice, and each one had force behind it.

This time, her fire seemed even brighter. It blinded Kasia, forcing her to cover her eyes and peek through her fingers to witness the strength of Agnieszka’s magic.

Agnieszka’s magic had changed. This fire was contained, but still so beautiful. The fire licked at the dead mantis’ body at their feet and then reared as four more entered the clearing. It moved faster than Kasia could comprehend, rising and immediately striking at the mantises and felling them just as fast.

When it was all over, the clearing was deadly quiet. The strength of the magic still lingered in the air. Agnieszka’s eyes were shining bright.

The fire had gone out with the mantises. Only the moon shed light on their surroundings.

“We should go,” said Kasia, eventually. The screaming had stopped. They would have no leads to find the victim.

Agnieszka shoulders fell, and she sighed. She held out her hand.

When Kasia took it, the trees around them blurred. She almost pulled away in shock, but Agnieszka held tight.

They were in the room they had stayed at when they were in the city.

“You can transport us anywhere,” said Kasia. “Solya didn’t think that was possible.”

“They don’t know a lot of things,” said Agneiszka. It didn’t sound condescending. It sounded like she was stating a fact. She sat down onto the bed, removing her cloak and floating it over to the coat hanger.

“If you can transport us anywhere, why the travels?” asks Kasia. “People are dying out there, Nieshka!”

“No,” says Agnieszka, calmly. “They’re not. I’ve made sure of it every night after you fell asleep.”

“Then what about today?”

“The girl is okay,” said Agnieszka. “The mantises hadn’t gotten her.”

“You can’t always be there,” she argued. “You said we were going to find the one responsible.”

“And we will. We just need to wait.”

She closed her mouth instead of continuing to argue and thought about it. If Agnieszka said they had to wait, then perhaps they weren’t traveling toward a location but waiting for a specific day and time.

She busied herself by removing her armor, letting them clank loudly onto the floor and letting the tension relax from her shoulders. She lay Alosha’s sword onto the table and then went to sit next to Agnieszka on the bed.

“What day?” she asked, softly.

“The full moon,” said Agnieszka. “It’s when the ties between the spirit world and ours is the strongest.”

“Spirit world?”

Agnieszka bit her lip. “The dead. The person we are going to find is dead.”

She felt chills and Agnieszka smiled when she noticed. She put an arm around Kasia. “Don’t worry, he can’t hurt you.”

It didn’t escape her notice that Agnieszka didn’t include herself. She opened her mouth to say something, but Agnieszka was turning to face her. “I won’t let him,” she said, her voice low. “I may not have been able to protect you ten years ago, but now, I’m stronger. No one can hurt you.”

Ten years ago, the promise would have made her smile. But it _had_ been ten years. Kasia didn’t need to be protected anymore. She might not be a witch like Agnieszka, but that didn’t mean she was powerless. “I’m Captain of the King’s guard,” Kasia started to say, and then paused, because Agnieszka was smiling. As if she was amused. She tugged on Agnieszka’s hand. “ _I’m_ going to be the one doing the protecting.”

“Oh?” asked Agnieszka. Her smile was growing wider. “What if I told you this needed a witch’s touch?”

She sighed, aggravated. “Then why did you give me Alosha’s sword?”

“Hmm,” said Agnieszka. “Is it bad that I just wanted your company?”

She was going to argue but then Agnieszka was awfully close. They were still sitting on the bed together.

Briefly she was reminded of what Alosha had said to her just a few weeks ago. When Agnieszka’s letter had come in and had caused her worry enough to go seek out Alosha’s advice. Alosha had taken the letter, scanned the contents, and then sighed at her. “This is getting out of hand,” Alosha had said. “You need to get over her.”

And Kasia had been shocked, because Agnieszka was her best friend and she had been missing. She wouldn’t so easily forget her. But Alosha had continued, “You were in love with her. But it’s been ten years. You need to move on with your life.”

And she had argued that she wasn’t in love; girls couldn’t be in love with other girls. Alosha had barked out a laugh at that, and had said simply, “Well, _you’re_ in love with one, so that’s obviously not true.”

She had stormed out after and hadn’t talked to Alosha since. And she believed she was right and that Alosha had simply been crazy. She wasn’t in love with her missing best friend.

But now, with Agnieszka so close and with the last two weeks they had spent traveling, she wasn’t so sure. Maybe Alosha _was_ right.

Maybe she had been in love with Agnieszka all this time.

“What is it?” asked Agnieszka, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked worried.

Kasia couldn’t help darting her eyes downward to rest on Agnieszka’s lips. Agnieszka’s eyes widened as she noticed, and her mouth opened a bit in surprise.

It was stupid. It was silly. And maybe it was the adrenaline leftover from fighting the mantises running through her or maybe it was the fact that these two weeks were doing nothing to mollify the ten-year absence she had suffered, but Kasia leaned forward and kissed Agnieszka.

Agnieszka melted immediately into the kiss. She brought her arms up around Kasia and she was shaking hard enough that Kasia could feel it.

Kasia didn’t end the kiss though and continued to press. Agnieszka gave as good as she expected, kissing her back just as fiercely.

When she pulled away, Agnieszka looked dazed. She slowly raised her hand to her lips, pressing her fingers to it as if she couldn’t believe Kasia kissed her.

“Nieshka,” whispered Kasia. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

That brought Agnieszka’s attention back to her. She blinked her large eyes at Kasia, and then laughed. “I don’t either,” said Agnieszka. “I never – “

“Me too,” interrupted Kasia. “I never thought girls could be with girls.”

“Now I can’t imagine why I ever thought so,” admitted Agnieszka. Her smile was shy, but brilliant, and Kasia let out a soft gasp when Agnieszka dove back in for another kiss.

* * *

They stayed in the city.

Kasia paid the innkeeper, but apparently, he hadn’t been surprised when Agnieszka had ported them back in the middle of the night. Agnieszka had ported in money onto his desk, and he had seen it when he opened for the day.

“What if someone was there?” she asked, and Agnieszka’s eyes sparkled.

“Well, there wasn’t anyone there, was there?”

Kasia had shoved Agnieszka playfully at that, and Agnieszka had pulled her into the bath with her.

It was weird. Kasia didn’t have much experience at all. She hadn’t been with anyone – or even looked at anyone romantically ever since she had become wooden. They were learning new things about her body every day.

Agnieszka wasn’t much better. She had also spent these ten years removed from the society.

Now that Agnieszka had come clean to her about what they were doing, Agnieszka seemed to open up more. She would tell her more stories about Jaga, about their every day life and the way Jaga taught.

One night, when they had bathed and gotten ready for bed, Agnieszka told her why she had left the comfort of Jaga’s home.

Jaga was missing.

Once again.

“Is she time traveling?” asked Kasia, remembering that one story Agnieszka told her about when they were young.

Agnieszka shrugged. “She never confirmed the story, so it could be possible.” Her face was pinched, belying the way she was acting casual.

“What’s the matter?” asked Kasia.

Agnieszka’s face fell. “She didn’t tell me where she went. I’m just worried for her.”

Kasia took Agnieszka into her arms then, and they fell asleep that night with Agnieszka’s tears in Kasia’s hair.

There were always five mantises wandering different parts of their world at night. Kasia would go with Agnieszka, but she would never draw her sword. Agnieszka had everything under control.

Her fires always burned white-hot and took the mantises down in mere seconds. The only difference between the nights were the melodies Agnieszka sang her spells to. The change in melodies sometimes changed the way the fires were born, but mostly, Agnieszka did it to bring a smile to Kasia’s face.

It was the full moon before long.

Agnieszka took her hand and transported them. When Kasia’s vision became clear, she realized where they were.

The Wood.

She still had nightmares about this place. The air would always haunt her.

She had never been here, though.

The Wood hadn’t been a threat in ten years. It had diminished in size, but there was still a patch of it left. The trees were dense, and no light ever got through them. When it became apparent that the wizards and witches couldn’t help, the King had decided to leave it alone. It was a tenth of what it used to be after all, and the creatures that lived in the Wood had disappeared.

She didn’t know where they were.

There were so many heart-trees around them. Her stomach churned. She felt the bark closing in front of her at the sight and she took a shuddering breath.

Agnieszka took her hand.

“You’re okay,” said Agnieszka. “I’ll never let anything hurt you.”

Kasia smiled weakly at her words and gripped tighter on Agnieszka’s hand.

“I came here with Sarkan, once,” explained Agnieszka. “Did he ever tell you about what happened?”

Agnieszka was pulling her forward. She followed obediently, and shook her head. “Never,” she said. “He never told anyone in Kralia…even when the King asked.”

There was a man waiting for them. He stood at the base of the largest heart-tree Kasia had ever seen.

He turned to face them when they got closer. Kasia tensed and made to draw her sword, but Agnieszka stilled her with a touch.

“Your Majesty,” greeted Agnieszka.

His expression didn’t change. “Agnieszka of Dvernik,” the King said. His voice echoed in the quiet of the clearing. “Have you come to pay for your sins?”

Agnieszka was shaking. Kasia wanted to say something, but Agnieszka was already pulling her hand away. She took a deep breath and then stood tall, her head held up high even as her chin quivered. “Yes,” she said. She took a step forward. Kasia lunged forward and grabbed for Agnieszka’s hand. She caught it, and refused to let go.

“What does he mean?” demanded Kasia.  “What does he want from you?”

Agnieszka was crying. Even with Kasia’s demands, she didn’t turn to look at Kasia. “Please,” she begged, “Let go.”

“Nieshka,” she tried. “I thought we were going to fight him together.”

“There are no spells that affect the dead,” said Agnieszka. Her voice was hoarse and shaky. “The only ones that do bring them back to life. You cannot kill the dead twice.”

“That doesn’t mean you just listen to him!” she cried. “We’re a _team_ , Nieshka. I am _not_ here as just your company.”

“But you are,” whispered Agnieszka. “And you were the best company I could have ever wanted.”

Kasia wanted to take offense, but she couldn’t. Because Agnieszka was still crying, and her words were getting choked up.

“If I am to die today,” said Agnieszka, “at least I’ll die knowing I’ve loved you.”

She broke away at last, and took the last few steps forward.

Kasia’s heart thudded at Agnieszka’s confession and she tried to follow, but the King raised his hand and Agnieszka was screaming.

She drew Alosha’s sword. She wasn’t going to stand her and watch as Agnieszka died. That wasn’t her.

Kasisa took a deep breath and then used the strength given to her by the Wood to swing down as hard as she could. Alosha’s sword cut the barrier wide open.

She wasn’t given time to celebrate her success. The King was already reaching forward, and vines were growing where his hand should be, reaching out and choking Kasia. He lifted her with one arm, and Kasia vainly tried to make him let go, her hands scrabbling at his tight grip.

She wasn’t getting any air.

Behind her, Agnieszka had stopped screaming. She was watching in horror as the King continued to bear down. “No!” cried Agnieszka, and she was running forward, her hands held up as if she was about to cast a spell.

“Quiet,” said the King. “You’ve seen the future,” he said. “I know you have. You know what I am capable of.”

Agnieszka stopped still. A tear ran down her cheeks but she still held her head up high. “Please, I’m the one you want.”

The King’s grip loosened a bit. “Do you love this girl?”

“Yes,” said Agnieszka. “I do. For all my life.”

“Does she love you back?”

Agnieszka faltered. Kasia realized that she had never said those three words to her; how could she have? They had only been reunited for less than a month.

But she did. She loved Agnieszka. So much.

She stared hard at the King, hoping he could somehow understand that she too, had loved Agnieszka for all her life.

The King couldn’t read thoughts however. But Agnieszka’s voice was sure when she spoke.

“Yes,” said Agnieszka, and her voice trembled a second after.

Kasia wanted to shout to the King that Agnieszka was telling the truth, but she was still being choked. But the grip was loosening, and Kasia fell to her knees when the King let go. She gasped in pain as her hands finally went to her neck, and it took her a while to look back up at the King.

But he wasn’t there.

He was standing over Agnieszka, his face stern. “I will judge you,” said the King. “And I will find you wanting.”

He put his hand on Agnieszka’s forehead. It wasn’t magic that allowed the King to look through her thoughts. Kasia had seen magic. She had felt it intimately, pressed up against Agnieszka as she had been. And this wasn’t it.

She didn’t know what it was. But one moment she was on her knees in front of the heart-tree, and the next, the King and her were standing in Agnieszka’s memories.

The King didn’t speak. Agnieszka was gone. It was just the two of them, cycling through the last few weeks.

Kasia closed her eyes, not wanting to see the King watch, and only opened them after she had met Agnieszka for the first time after ten years.

Agnieszka was crying. She was sobbing, uncontrollably, and an old woman was standing in front of her. It was Jaga.

“I’m sorry,” said the witch, and she moved to place two hands on Agnieszka’s shoulders. “But the dead is stronger than us. We cannot command them. If we do not do this, the world as we know it will cease to exist.”

Agnieszka didn’t say anything, but she held out her arms and Jaga bundled Agnieszka into her chest. “I’ll find a way out,” said Jaga, “Until then, lay low.”

She was gone in the blink of an eye. Agnieszka bent over even more at her disappearance, shock written all over her features. Her tears started to increase, and she sobbed, hard.

Agnieszka spent the next few hours simply staring off into the distance. As if she was still waiting for Jaga to come back. Kasia knew the witch was gone.

A letter appeared out of nowhere. It fell in front of Agnieszka, and Kasia realized with a shock that it was her handwriting on it. Agnieszka stared at it for what seemed like an hour before slicing it open with magic.

Kasia knew what she had written by heart. She had panicked over Agnieszka’s last letter, and about Alosha claiming she loved Agnieszka, and had worried endlessly about her missing best friend.

And apparently that had been the push that Agnieszka needed. Agnieszka folded the letter back up, went to grab a hooded cloak, and disappeared.

She knew where Agnieszka had gone. To save Kasia and her men from the rotten mantises.

“Hm,” said the King. “And why do you think I should spare her?” he suddenly addressed Kasia. “She killed my Queen.”

She was saved from answering. A wooden woman, taller than anyone she had ever seen, suddenly appeared in Agnieszka’s mindspace. “Your Majesty,” the woman curtseyed.

The King’s eyes were wide, as if he had seen a ghost. “Linaya,” he breathed, and the woman shot a wry grin at him.

She was more wooden than even Kasia. Her hair was made of woven branches and she wore a crown of leaves. “You must go further,” said the woman. “Your Queen disappeared ten years ago.”

“I do not wish to see my Queen perish.”

“You were always so dramatic,” said the wooden woman. She sighed, and then looked at Kasia. “My apologies,” and shoved her out.

She fell back down onto her bottom, back in the Wood.

Agnieszka wasn’t breathing next to her. She crawled forward, her heart thudding in fear, and pulled Agnieszka into her lap. She knew the King was in her memories, but seeing Agnieszka so deathly still was making her panic.

She cradled Agnieszka, and waited with her heart in her throat.

The King was crying when he emerged out of nowhere. They were silent tears; his face was just as expressionless as ever.

Agnieszka gasped awake. Kasia didn’t realize she was crying until Agnieszka raised a hand and pressed it against her cheek, wiping away her tears.

“You saved me,” said Agnieszka. “If it wasn’t for you, I would have never gathered the courage to sacrifice myself.”

“I didn’t save you,” she choked out, “because you’re trying to die right now.”

“Death is just another adventure,” said Agnieszka. She was smiling. “Don’t cry. This is the only way to make sure you’re safe.”

“I don’t want you to protect me,” said Kasia. “I want you to live. I want those ten years back,” she admitted. “I want to grow old with you,” said Kasia, and then paused because witches don’t grow old. But Agnieszka’s eyes were watering anyway, so she pressed on. “And I _do_ love you. So much.”

Agnieszka’s smile was brilliant. She sat up, slowly with Kasia’s help, and then pulled Kasia in for a quick kiss. It was chaste, but still full of so much emotion, and then Agnieszka was pushing away to face the King.

“Have you found me wanting?” she asked, and the King inclined his head.

“No,” said the King. “I was wrong. Linaya showed me.”

Agnieszka’s eyes widened. “Linaya?”

“She was still in there,” said the King. “When I was in the afterworld, I only saw my wife’s suffering. And it never got better, until I couldn’t see her anymore. I didn’t know what she had become.”

Agnieszka was quiet. Kasia didn’t say anything as she watched the King continue to fall apart in front of them.

He had been the wooden Queen’s King. She remembered now, even when it had been so long ago. She remembered thrusting Alosha’s sword into her – into the fake rendition of Marek’s mother and having it amount to nothing.

“But you saved her,” said the King. He turned and took a step closer to the broad heart-tree, and placed a palm on the trunk. The heart-tree shuddered at his touch, and inexplicably, the tree seemed to come alive and shifted, until it was offering the King a single branch of white flowers.

The King’s expressionless face looked alive, and his eyes were shining as he took the offering.

“This is my Queen,” explained the King. “You helped her. Will you help me?”

Agnieszka was still abnormally quiet. But she nodded at the King’s request and held up her hand.

Kasia was watching, and she knew Agnieszka didn’t use magic. But the tree seemed to present her with a fruit all the same. Its fruit was glowing and golden and gleamed in the dying light.

Agnieszka hummed and sang one long, clear note. A spherical water droplet rose from the water and hovered above Agnieszka’s other hand. The King drank from that one first, and then bit into the fruit, the juices running down his chin.

The King’s magic was leaking out around them, making the air tense and heavy. But he was changing. Agnieszka helped him sit, his back against his Queen, and he seemed to be losing strength.

“ _Vanalem_ ,” sang Agnieszka, and the King tilted his head back so he could stare up at the branches above him.

“I’m coming,” said the King, and closed his eyes.

The transformation seemed to happen all at once. He didn’t become a tree. Instead, his skin was melting away, and then a skeleton was resting where the King had been.

“It’s just his physical form,” said Agnieszka, quietly. She reached for Kasia’s hand and Kasia took it. “His soul is with her.”

They were quiet for a long time, and stayed long enough for the heart-tree to sprout white flowers from its branches.

* * *

“Are you coming home?” asked Kasia, when they finally made their way out of the Wood.

“The rotting mantises are gone,” said Agnieszka. She was still holding Kasia’s hand and gripped it tight. “I need to go see if Jaga’s come home. She needs to know the threat has passed.”

“Oh,” said Kasia, and Agnieszka smiled at her.

“Won’t you come with?” asked Agnieszka. “It’ll be a short trip, and then we can go back to Kralia.”

Her breath left her momentarily at the words. “You’ll come home?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Agnieszka, and pulled her close. “I won’t leave you. Not again.”

“I’m keeping you to that,” threatened Kasia, and then kissed her brilliant witch on the lips.

 


End file.
